yes after thinking a bit about it i agree with the 4 categories (and later maybe we can go to 6), but i would separate rapid to classical at 40 minutes. So something like
0--Bullet--4--Blitz--12--Rapid--40--Classical.
that said, just simply adding a new category, be it 30+ or 40+, is howsoever better than the current 3 categories, because for sure you cannot define a 10 or 15 minutes game as a classical
Puzzletraining,
For the time range you are considering, I agree with your division. Yet the time controls used in FIDE OTB tournaments are way longer and would require an extra rating category if they were to become popular in Lichess. For instance 90’/40+30’/end with 30" per move is equivalent to 140 more or less, which is 3.5 times longer than 40+0.
What we need to observe is the range between Min and Max of each time control, which in all clubs is within 3x to 5x, usually closer to a 3.3 figure (such as blitz 10/3 = 3.3). Since the shortest possible time control is 0.5 and the maximum is 300, the ideal number of categories to cover this entire range can be calculated as:
cats = Log(300/0.5) / Log(range_ratio)
So..
For a range ratio of 3, cats = 5.8.
For a range ratio of 3.3, cats = 5.4
For a range ratio of 4, cats = 4.6
For a range ratio of 5, cats = 3.9
The most popular 5 category division would probably be like this:
0.5--Bullet--3--Blitz--10--Rapid--30--Standard--90--Classical--300
|=========|=======|========|===========|============|
Wow, calculations! Science! :)
I would simply be happy if 30+ would be separated. This would add motivation to play longer games.
I would try four categories and if that works try five later on
but for now, four seems already quite change.
